IRL: Sears Point: Panoz qualifying report

Briscoe breaks through with Panoz for first IndyCar Series pole
SONOMA, CA - Ryan Briscoe fulfilled the promise shown on Friday by taking
his clearly superior ...

Briscoe breaks through with Panoz for first IndyCar Series pole

SONOMA, CA - Ryan Briscoe fulfilled the promise shown on Friday by taking
his clearly superior #33 Target/Pioneer Panoz/Toyota/Firestone Indy car
to the Marlboro Pole Award this afternoon. Best in single car time
trials, rookie Briscoe led the top three drivers - of six total -
improving on his earlier speed (107.606mph) to run the fastest lap of the
session at 108.248mph.

The Australian turned eight laps total and seven in the 10-minute Fast
Six Shootout. He will lead a 21-car field to the green flags tomorrow in
the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix on the 2.26-mile, 12-turn Infineon
Raceway Sears Point road course, the first natural road course contest
for the Indy Racing League's premier series in its ten years of
existence.

"My Panoz has been working really well since we got here and we having
been making small improvements all the time," Briscoe advised. "It will
be a long race tomorrow and we'll all have to pay attention to strategies
as we go along." Briscoe credited consistent tire performance aiding his
car's balance as he would first cool and then heat his Firestone
Firehawks. "The grip was still there," he said.

For the ten minutes of additional qualifying to set the top six slots,
Briscoe's team "added some front from the one-lapper and that was it. We
were confident from Friday," when he was fastest, "and we knew we'd be
strong."

Panoz designer Richard Wilks declared, "Ganassi's boys deserved what they
earned here today with all of their hard work. They've clearly shown the
value of the Panoz chassis this afternoon."

2004 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Rice starts sixth - the final driver
in the shootout - but was unable to improve on his single-car qualifying
lap of 106.594mph in the #15 Argent Mortgage/Pioneer Panoz/Honda. "We
learned a little bit in qualifying and tried some new things in the
ten-minute shootout," Rice said. "In the shootout, we were running a
'top-three' time but it didn't get the car to stick well coming down the
hill. With the heat we lost some grip in qualifying; it wasn't terrible
but it wasn't great either."

Scott Dixon earned ninth on the grid in his #9 Target Panoz/Toyota,
putting up a lap of 106.365mph yet believing his Panoz performed better
in the cooler morning practice. "I had a big moment in the Carousel (turn
6) and got sideways," he said.